So. To explain. What is it all about? Well, I live in Cambridge, and work in opera, and I have been surprised to find that the city's opera provision is so limited, while at the same time there is great enthusiasm for the operatic events that do happen here. The various student opera groups are of a very high quality, and are well attended, and the Met Opera broadcasts at the Picturehouse seem to sell out as soon as they go on sale! So I started wondering, why doesn't the city have its own, permanent, professional opera company?
I've spent the last couple of years discussing my plans with people in the arts networks of Cambridge and meeting fellow opera-enthusiasts in and around the city, and we are all agreed that the enthusiasm and interest are there, and that the city would greatly benefit from such a company. So here it is!
A collaboration with the Scott Polar Research Institute (www.spri.cam.ac.uk) is the starting point for our first major project; a new work by composer Matt Rogers to commemorate Scott's last journey. I have the extraordinary privilege to be able to examine Scott's papers in the SPRI archives, and the text for the piece will be put together entirely from the expedition documents. It is incredibly moving to see the handwritten notes of the explorers, poignantly juxtaposed with press reports of their journey. Over the next couple of months, I will be visiting the archives on a regular basis and starting to form the shape and content of the piece. It will be a moving experience, and I will share the best bits here!
I've spent the last couple of years discussing my plans with people in the arts networks of Cambridge and meeting fellow opera-enthusiasts in and around the city, and we are all agreed that the enthusiasm and interest are there, and that the city would greatly benefit from such a company. So here it is!
A collaboration with the Scott Polar Research Institute (www.spri.cam.ac.uk) is the starting point for our first major project; a new work by composer Matt Rogers to commemorate Scott's last journey. I have the extraordinary privilege to be able to examine Scott's papers in the SPRI archives, and the text for the piece will be put together entirely from the expedition documents. It is incredibly moving to see the handwritten notes of the explorers, poignantly juxtaposed with press reports of their journey. Over the next couple of months, I will be visiting the archives on a regular basis and starting to form the shape and content of the piece. It will be a moving experience, and I will share the best bits here!
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